Georgia Virtual School Mentorship

Each student will be assigned (or will locate and have approved) a virtual mentor to collaborate with over the term. The student will observe and participate in the mentor’s online class.

Goals, Questions, and Impressions

Details of Mentorship	My mentor is Carlos Fernandez. He is a department head, so he is very knowledgeable about GAVS. He is very helpful, takes as much time as necessary to answer my questions, and offers many suggestions to me. He teaches Spanish. I will be observing one of his Spanish B classes.
Questions for our First Meeting	Do you work from home? Or a headquarters? Do you get to design the modules and choose/create the content? What duties and responsibilities do you have outside the “classroom?” Do you collaborate with other teachers? In person or online? What would you like me to observe in your class? What would you like me to know about online learning? Do you get to meet your students in person before the classes begin? What advise do you have for a classroom teacher hoping to make the transition to a virtual school teacher? What do you want to know? What are the similarities and differences between the online and traditional school setting? Do you have to make a lot of parent contact? Do you have to collect mastery documentation/evidence of learning? Do you have to follow IEPs? Do you collect data on your students? How are teachers evaluated? Do students take standardized tests? What duties and responsibilities do virtual teachers have?
Goals for the "Mentorship"	thoroughly explore the course experience what the teacher and students do on a daily basis gain a better understanding of the “school” understand the role of a virtual school teacher in learning
Initial Impressions	I wish I had this course when I took Spanish in high school. I like the interactive tools, the incorporation of culture, and the various assessment tools. I also like the use of differentiation for various learning styles.
Initial Concerns	I am hesitant to click on things because I do not speak Spanish and I do not want to mess anything up.
Goals for the First Week	setup tentative dates/times and meeting methods with my mentor

Summary of Weekly Meetings

Week 1	course creation and he informed me that it is a collaborative effort between teachers, content specialists, and technology specialists. Many of the teachers at the school are adjunct teachers. Within his department (Foreign Language), they have around 28 teachers. Four of them are full-time. Their foreign language department is so big they had to split it into two. Their Japanese and Latin classes are booming because the classes are being offered less in schools, because of budget cuts. He works from home and loves it. He enjoys working in an environment where students have to put forth effort to be successful. In 2008, he was the first male in the state to get the distance learning endorsement from the PSC. Most of the RESA organizations offer classes to get this endorsement, as well as Valdosta State. He believes that online learning is the way of the future and that it is going to really take-off when new legislation is passed requiring all high school students to take an online course in 2014. His favorite thing about online learning is that it gives teachers innovative methods to engage students in learning. 25% of his students have failed Spanish in the classroom or had behavior problems. They are thriving in this environment and enjoying the class. They are working on bringing foreign language classes back for middle school students. They have faculty meetings twice a year, in various locations around the state. They chat every other week as well. They have four Special Education teachers who work with teachers, parents, and students to provide accommodations for students with IEPs and 504 plans. The main accommodation he provides is extra time, which he simply adjusts within the system. They are required to contact parents, but email makes it easy. The other great thing about online courses, is the software tracks the students' progress and can be reported to the parents. Teachers keep a communication log with "just the facts." A prerequisite for the school is that students sign an agreement that they have access to a reliable computer and a back-up unit. The students are given a daily pacing guide to keep them on track. Many students wait until the day before the "benchmark" date to complete them. There is a "benchmark" timer on the home page which helps students keep track of the upcoming due dates. My mentor suggested that I talk to my administration about starting a blended program at my school. He gave me a quick summary of the course page and invited me to their faculty meeting next week.
Week 2	We discussed the importance of training for all teachers, including virtual teachers. we discussed the resistance teachers have to incorporating technology into the curriculum. GAVS uses Adobe Connect for class chats, as well as faculty meetings. Teachers receive PLU's for meetings. Teachers are assessed the same way as in the brick-and-mortar schools. These meetings, as well as the summer seminars and trainings, have really built collaboration among the teachers. They build portfolios and have observations. Mr. Fernandez is a department chair, so h is required to review his teachers' courses and complete a checklist each month. They are focused on having student-centered classes, friendly teachers, ensuring that IEPs/504s are properly implemented, and have the required content. Students are not required to "attend" chats, but accumulate bonus points each time they do. These points are added to a test grade to encourage attendance. They cannot make attendance mandatory. Mr. Fernandez believes that online learning is the way of the future. When I mentioned the resistance and lack of awareness I see, he told me that stakeholders will not change their opinions until they SEE it working. Another reason schools resist offering GAVS classes, is because they loose FTE funds. The new proposed bill would allow schools to keep the funds, and simply pay for individual courses the students request. Online learning requires schools to update computers and technology, which is extremely expensive. He believes schools will one day buy computers for students to work at home, which will save money in the long run. The GAVS requires new teachers to "student-teach" for one year, while supervised by a faculty member. They do not have to do lesson plans. Learning must be "hands-on." They try to incorporate culture, Q & A sessions, and error analysis/feedback- as much as possible. GAVS was started in 2005 when the state superintendent took a chance. They want to be business-like and competitive. He told me to ask our school GAVS facilitator if she received an invitation to the summer seminar in Athens. She did not, but wasn't planning to attend.
Week 3	My mentor invited me to "attend" their faculty meeting tonight. I was actually looking forward to it. Our faculty meetings are always so boring and at the most inconvenient times, so I was curious how a virtual meeting at 7:30pm would be. Unfortunately, our cheerleading banquet was tonight. I wanted to experience the meeting so badly, that I decided I could do both. I took my laptop, which has a mic and camera, to the banquet. I couldn't get logged on with the school's wi-fi though. I also couldn't escape to my classroom to use my desktop until 8:15. By this time, the faculty was in breakout sessions and wrapping up for the night. My desktop doesn't have a mic and my mentor couldn't see what I was typing for some reason? He could just tell I was there. We will talk again for our next meeting. I hope to ask him what I missed. I think virtual meetings sound great. By 7:30 at night, I have had a chance to wind down from my day and can sit at my computer, in the comfort of my home, dressed in my lounge wear. I might actually pay attention to what was being discussed, instead of worrying about the time they are taking from me during planning or before or after school. Mr. Fernandez summarized the faculty meeting I missed and sent me the archive link to reveiw. I told him I asked one of my administrators about GAVS, as he suggested. She said we have a couple of students in the credit recovery class taking classes through them. She said we only get the FTE funds if they are in-house. She said she hasn't received an invitation to the summer open house GAVS does for all of the high-schools in the state each year. As he suggested, I ask our GAVS facilitator who she would be interested in attending the summer orientation this year. I told him she probably wasn't going to this year, but that she mentioned we do have a few students taking GAVS classes here. I told him she said that the students think it is hard. He prefers to call it "challenging." It is harder to enable students online and requires them to apply themselves. He mentioned that he has a special ed student in an AP Spanish class, that is doing well. He said the environment allows them to focus better, so they are more successful. He said half of the first AP class he taught-dropped it. They thought it was going to be easy and were overwhelmed when it wasn't. We further discussed the new legislation that has been proposed regarding online learning in public schools. He said he thinks it has been altered. Instead of requiring all students to take an online class, they must simply be given the opportunity to. If a student requests a class online, the school must provide it to them. The schools get to structure how they choose to implement online classes. Many let the students go home early to work on their online classes. GAVS is SACS accredited, GA State Board of Ed approved, PSC approved, etc.... just like other schools.
Week 4	Final Words from Mr. Fernandez: "More than anything, teachers must know that both face-to-face and on line courses have the same goal = learning, knowledge. If you can get face-to-face teachers to adapt what they already can do in their class to an on line format, on line students could benefit as well of their teaching expertise. The name of the game is adaptation. Just like we cater to the various learning styles as educations, on line is just another tool for the us to implement. How effective this tool will be, or can be?, will depend on the training and attitude of the individual(s) who is (are) implementing the courses."